Hasta La Gadget!

SmartCellar Menu Application, from Incentient.com

One promise of tablets and e-readers is that everything we read that can be held in our hands, not just books and web pages, could end up moving from static paper to a dynamic screen. Some restaurants are already taking the plunge, handing out iPads instead of menus.

The New York Times recently profiled a number of these future-thinking restaurants, from London bistros to Atlanta steakhouses. They report that customers love them, sales are up, and that so far, no one has stolen or spilled their drinks on the tablets. Hijacking them for playing video games and checking-in on Foursquare have likewise been minimal.

Traditionally, restaurants touting their extensive wine, beer, or liquor collections have consecrated that authority with large tomes bound in deluxe leather. (“Here is the Bible,” a waitress whispered to a reporter for the Economist at a French restaurant in London’s Covent Garden.)

But these books aren’t terribly functional for search. Customers have grown used to finding beverage information on their smartphones; software-based tablets are a natural way for restaurants to meet their clientele halfway, keeping them (and their stewards) in on the action. And as the devices have quickly accrued some of the same prestige as the old codex menus.

For the customer, digital menus are interactive, searchable, and can easily incorporate text with images. For the restaurant, digital menus can be edited on the fly, reflecting new items, prices, specials, and availability (or lack thereof) without having to launch an entire reprinting. They can also augment the catalog with reviews, suggestions about food pairings, even multimedia. Master sommelier Fred Dame told the Times, “when I saw this thing and saw the applications, I said, ‘Oh, man, that’s the end of the print shop.’”

I can imagine a future where customers have a restaurant’s interactive menu on their own devices, logging in, and reserving a bottle of wine (and even a particular table) before they step out the door.

Don’t expect to fiddle with a high-end touchscreen menu at your neighborhood family restaurant anytime soon; the cost-benefit curve just doesn’t turn sharply enough yet. But we can expect them to continue changing the look and feel of the fine dining experience.

See Also:

• Single-Serve Takeaway Wine Glasses Intoxicate Britain
• Wine Snobs Geek Out on “Systems Oenology”
• How to Use Your iPhone to Drink More (and Better) Wine
• Wired 9.11: The Grapes of Math
• London Restaurant Uses Touchpads for Orders, Projectors for Mood …

Google TV is coming, and Logitech’s Revue is gonna bring it to ya first. But, if you’re a Dish Network subscriber, it looks like you might be able to get yours for cheaper — a lot cheaper. According to our industrious tipster, the Revue is slated to launch on September 29, just two weeks from now, with an MSRP of $299. But, if you happen to be a Dish subscriber, you can get one (and only one) for the heavily discounted price of $179. Our noble tipster also got some pictures of the keyboard, which match perfectly those captured earlier this month by good ‘ol Mr. Blurrycam and, while we can’t be 100% sure about these details, this deal certainly would go a long way toward explaining why attendees to Google’s Zeitgeist event recently walked away with six free months of Dish service.

[Thanks, Anonymous]

Logitech Revue with Google TV coming 9/29 for $299, Dish Network offering discounts? originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 16 Sep 2010 10:28:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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When I met with some folks from Livio Radio last night, I didn’t recognize the company’s name, though I had seen some of its products before. Livio manufacturers Internet radios–you may well have the products that the company created with NPR and Pandora.

Livio was showing off both of those products last night, of course, but the company also had something new up its sleeve–the Carmen. The Carmen continues the company’s radio focus. The device is an FM transmitter that plugs into a car’s 12-volt adapter (remember when they used to call them cigarette lighters?).

It has 2GB of built-in storage for MP3 and radio content, the latter of which can be recorded using the included radio DVR software. The software lets users grab content from 42,000 radio stations across the world.

The Carmen has an LCD screen, included remote, and built-in buttons which let you pause, rewind, and skip through MP3s or recorded radio content. Seems like a pretty good gadget for a long road trip.

Don’t toss that collection of vinyl records just yet. Crosley has an interesting take on the venerable record player with its Crosley Revolution CR6002A.

Resembling nothing like the giant turntables of old, the Revolution CR6002A is portable, has a built-in handle, and runs on six AA batteries. It has both 33 1/3 and 45 rpm speeds, an integrated FM transmitter, and integrated full-range dynamic stereo speakers. There’s also a headphone jack on the turntable.

The record dangles over the edges and is a little exposed, so you would need to be careful when playing, but the portable Revolution makes vinyl convenient.

With the FM transmitter, you can listen to the vinyl over anything with a FM receiver, whether that’s your stereo with the receiver, or a portable mp3 player. Again, convenient.

When connected to a computer via USB, you can turn those records in to digital tracks using the accompanying software.

Currently available for $149.99 online or at select retailers like Hammacher Schlemmer, Brookstone and JC Penney. If looking for something other than the basic black, Urban Outfitters sells custom Revolutions in red, ivory, and mint.